Vitamins & Acne

Nutrition
1

Oh so sexy a topic… Anyone know anything about the interactions of vits/sups and it resulting in acne, backne to be precise?

I’ve had 3 surgeries so far this year (will be having a fourth in a few weeks) and decided it might be good to start taking some basic vitamins to help with healing (never been very worried about it before). For the last 3 months, I’ve been taking a multivit, getting +/-4k Vit C, a green tea/L-carnitine thing, and fish oil (1000mg EPA, 750mg DHA, 1500mg VitD, 45mg Acai), 1500mg ea glucosamine and MSM, each day.

About 2 weeks ago I started breaking out on my neck and back - completely unusual for me. I thought it had to do with actually pushing myself in the gym again and perhaps all the crap stored up in my body from surgeries and bedrest was coming out my pores. Weeelll, it’s way fucking worse than it was a few weeks ago. I’ve not had acne this bad since I was in HS and on oral birth control (hormones seriously fuck with my body and I can’t be on them). There’s no chance I’m pregnant, I’m not on any hormones or BC now and the only thought I had was that there might be soy in the vits (think I’ve read that soy can mimic estrogen and if my body thinks it’s getting estrogen then acne makes sense).

Does soy lecithin or soy tocopherols (in the fish oil) equate to actual soy that your body can confuse with estrogen?

I’m planning on stopping everything and seeing if it helps - but I’m also concerned that my body needs to have every chance possible to heal after this upcoming surgery. I’m by no means a nutrition guru… any of you have ideas or clues to what’s going on?

2

[quote]karma wrote:
Oh so sexy a topic… Anyone know anything about the interactions of vits/sups and it resulting in acne, backne to be precise?

I’ve had 3 surgeries so far this year (will be having a fourth in a few weeks) and decided it might be good to start taking some basic vitamins to help with healing (never been very worried about it before). For the last 3 months, I’ve been taking a multivit, getting +/-4k Vit C, a green tea/L-carnitine thing, and fish oil (1000mg EPA, 750mg DHA, 1500mg VitD, 45mg Acai), 1500mg ea glucosamine and MSM, each day.

About 2 weeks ago I started breaking out on my neck and back - completely unusual for me. I thought it had to do with actually pushing myself in the gym again and perhaps all the crap stored up in my body from surgeries and bedrest was coming out my pores. Weeelll, it’s way fucking worse than it was a few weeks ago. I’ve not had acne this bad since I was in HS and on oral birth control (hormones seriously fuck with my body and I can’t be on them). There’s no chance I’m pregnant, I’m not on any hormones or BC now and the only thought I had was that there might be soy in the vits (think I’ve read that soy can mimic estrogen and if my body thinks it’s getting estrogen then acne makes sense).

Does soy lecithin or soy tocopherols (in the fish oil) equate to actual soy that your body can confuse with estrogen?

I’m planning on stopping everything and seeing if it helps - but I’m also concerned that my body needs to have every chance possible to heal after this upcoming surgery. I’m by no means a nutrition guru… any of you have ideas or clues to what’s going on?[/quote]

One of the biggest triggers for acne when taken in excess can be found in your multivitamin, iodine. I was having some similar problems, and after doing some research and testing, I found that switching to a vitamin without iodine made a huge difference. Read up on excess iodine intake.

Soy can also trigger acne, and unless you really need it in your diet, you should seek to eliminate it.

Dairy has also proven to be pretty rough on skin, and on the body in general, so eliminating that could also make a huge difference. Sugar and high glycimic foods are another group of huge trigger for inflammation and acne in general.

Now you must realize that acne can be caused by a variety of things, and is different from person to person, but these are just some things that helped me maintain great skin.

3

Fish oil is often recommended against before surgery anyway, due to increased bleeding tendency.

4

EasyRhino: I understand fish oil is generally something you stop before surgery. I have a fabulous little gene anomaly called G20210A which makes me predisposed to excessive clotting tendencies. Fish oil, baby aspirin and other “lifestyle” anticoagulants are actually good for me and put me in the “normal” range for clotting instead of the “bleeder” category as they would for normal folks. I’m not under doc’s orders to be taking them - but he said it’d would certainly be smart thing to do now versus waiting until I had an early heart attack or stroke.

Appreciate the comment, though!

WestCoast7: Thanks for the info… I checked the iodine in the multi and it says it provides 54% RDA. I can look for a multi without it.

I’m not a fan of soy in general and avoid it where I can, but didn’t know if the lecithin/tocopheral versions were to be avoided as well as the “whole” version.

I’ve been eating a yogurt/day to help with pro/prebiotics in the GI (spent almost 6 weeks on increasingly heavy duty/multi antibiotics and it jacked my gut up). It’s the low fat/sucralose sweetened kind. Other than that, I get probably 3 random servings of cheese/wk. I’m not a big dairy person so it wouldn’t be hard to eliminate it if need be.

My diet is not the strictest out there, but for the most part it’s relatively clean. It hasn’t changed much during the last 6 months though, so I’m not sure if basic dietary issues would come into play as causes of this break out. I can usually eat pretty much anything/as much as I want as long I’m in the gym 3+/wk. And to my knowledge, I have no allergies.

The only thing I know for certain that causes breakouts is something hormonal. That’s why I was wondering if the lecithin/tocopherals would end up converting into estrogen of some sort.

5

[quote]karma wrote:
EasyRhino: I understand fish oil is generally something you stop before surgery. I have a fabulous little gene anomaly called G20210A which makes me predisposed to excessive clotting tendencies. Fish oil, baby aspirin and other “lifestyle” anticoagulants are actually good for me and put me in the “normal” range for clotting instead of the “bleeder” category as they would for normal folks. I’m not under doc’s orders to be taking them - but he said it’d would certainly be smart thing to do now versus waiting until I had an early heart attack or stroke.

Appreciate the comment, though!

WestCoast7: Thanks for the info… I checked the iodine in the multi and it says it provides 54% RDA. I can look for a multi without it.

I’m not a fan of soy in general and avoid it where I can, but didn’t know if the lecithin/tocopheral versions were to be avoided as well as the “whole” version.

I’ve been eating a yogurt/day to help with pro/prebiotics in the GI (spent almost 6 weeks on increasingly heavy duty/multi antibiotics and it jacked my gut up). It’s the low fat/sucralose sweetened kind. Other than that, I get probably 3 random servings of cheese/wk. I’m not a big dairy person so it wouldn’t be hard to eliminate it if need be.

My diet is not the strictest out there, but for the most part it’s relatively clean. It hasn’t changed much during the last 6 months though, so I’m not sure if basic dietary issues would come into play as causes of this break out. I can usually eat pretty much anything/as much as I want as long I’m in the gym 3+/wk. And to my knowledge, I have no allergies.

The only thing I know for certain that causes breakouts is something hormonal. That’s why I was wondering if the lecithin/tocopherals would end up converting into estrogen of some sort.
[/quote]

Sometimes the oils are derived from soy bean oil, which is terrible for skin. Vegetable oils in general should be avoided by those who suffer from acne, even olive oil. If you are doing any cooking or using any recipes that require oil, you should use coconut oil as a substitute.

After finishing college, I overhauled my diet, and along with the body composition and everything that came with it, I noticed a huge positive change in my skin (I never had bad skin to being with though).

The biggest causes are grains, dairy, and vegetable oils, which should be eliminated from your diet if you have an concerns with your skin (most of the foods in those categories aren’t really even that healthy in general).

6

There were a lot of words in this thread, but I’ll add my two cents on acne in general:

You can highly reduce acne (especially bacne, which is how I discovered this) through mega-dosing B5 (pantothenic acid). I’m talkin like, 10g a day (each pill is normally 500mg, so 20 of them). No worries, its water soluable. It’ll dry you out though, so make sure to drink a load of water.

7

Enteric coated probiotic supplements go a long way.

8

Soy supposedly contains plant estrogens called phytoestrogens that can mimic human hormones. If that is something you’re sensitive to I would definiteley cut that out first and see what happens.

FWIW, I’ve never broken out from fish oil and I’ve been on some pretty hefty doses. If anything I think it improves my skin tone. I read once that an imbalance in the ratio of omega3 to omega6 (most people are deficient in omega3) causes acne and fish oil actually corrects this. Never heard of anyone breaking out from multivitamins either

Sounds like you’re pretty certain its your diet, but is it possible youre wearing your hair differently or different clothes to work out in? I used to wear t shirts with the sleeves cut real low, when I bulked up and lost my hawt abs I went to wearing a full t-shirt. The back of my tshirt started getting soaked with sweat and bacne ensued. I don’t have any hair lol but if its just on your neck/back, maybe your hair is getting sweaty or something.

Also, try using head and shoulders (the “classic clean” kind only) as a body wash. Rub it all over your back and let it sit for 5 minutes or so, I usually do it then shave, the zinc will dry them up. This worked for me during a cycle of prohormones, so it could work for you too if its hormonal acne.

Good luck, nothing ruins your confidence like a bunch of acne.